October 07, 2009

Reporters Notebooks

Brandon Chatmon, Oklahoman: Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant, arguably the most gifted receiver in the country, has been declared ineligible by the NCAA for failing to openly disclose the full details of his interaction with a former NFL player (Deion Sanders?) not affiliated with school. Oklahoma State is expected to appeal the ruling, but any resolution could take weeks.

Stephanie Taylor, Tuscaloosa News: Alabama sophomore linebacker Courtney Upshaw was granted youthful offender status,
bringing resolution to his misdemeanor domestic violence/harassment
case involving a female student who was charged with the same offense.
The woman, 19-year-old Kendall Lynn Gryzb, was also granted youthful
offender status. Gryzb’s father shielded her from news cameras at the
Tuscaloosa County Courthouse Wednesday morning. He turned to yell "Roll Tide!" as they left the building.

Bob Flounders, Penn Live: Joe Paterno grew animated when asked if Penn State fans should pay the same amount for tickets to the Eastern Illinois and Ohio State games. "That's up to them," he said. "Stop belaboring the question. ... Is it worth you coming to the game? That’s your decision. All right? Don’t get me into that."

Bob Condotta, Seattle Times: Get ready to knock Washington off the list of teams to have never played a Division I-AA opponent. The Huskies have scheduled a 2011 game against Eastern Washington. Coach Steve Sarkisian doesn't have a problem with it. "I think it's pretty commonplace now in college football. Everyone basically does it outside of a couple of teams," he said. USC, UCLA and Notre Dame will become the only teams to have never played a I-AA opponent since the NCAA adopted the divisional setup in 1978.

Steve Ellis, Tallahassee Democrat: Bobby Bowden, after getting a vote of support by Florida State president T.K. Wetherell, said he'll decide at season's end if he plans to continue as the team's coach.

Bud Withers, Seattle Times: Pacific 10 notebook, leading with California's collapse and Washington State's Paul Wulff being upset with a challenge of a Cougar touchdown by Oregon's Chip Kelly with the Ducks leading, 45-0.

David Paschall, Chattanooga Times Free Press: Dept. of Blowing Smoke: Georgia's Mark Richt, on Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton: "I know a lot of people have said this or that about Jonathan, but I can tell you that we recruited him heavily. We wanted him as bad as anybody that we recruited at Georgia at the quarterback position."

Suzanne Halliburton, Austin American-Statesman: An arrest warrant has been issued Texas freshman defensive back Kenny Vaccaro for misdemeanor assault after an alleged fight he had with Texas student during a pick-up basketball game last month.

Jake Trotter, Oklahoman: Oklahoma's Sam Bradford says it doesn't hurt when he throws, but he encounters soreness and fatigue in his shoulder after throwing for an extended period.

Mike Organ, Tennessean: Vanderbilt's nonconference scheduling philosophy involves playing schools that also have high academic standards.

Chris Foster, Los Angeles Times: UCLA quarterback Kevin Prince, who suffered a fractured jaw against Tennessee, has been cleared to play in Saturday's game against Oregon.

Jon Solomon, Birmingham News: The Gator Bowl is close to finalizing a deal to bring a Southeastern Conference team vs. a Big Ten team to its New Year's Day game. The Independence Bowl will end its 15-year relationship with the SEC after this season. The bowl, which is also losing affiliation with the Big 12, appears headed to an Atlantic Coast-Mountain West pairing.

Ken Tysiac, ACC Now: The Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando has been elevated to the number three spot in the ACC's contracted bowl selection order for 2010 through 2013.

Bob Condotta, Seattle Times: Big East officials, who were in charge of the replay booth for last Saturday's Washington-Notre Dame game, had no comment when asked about several controversial calls in the game.

J.P. Giglio, ACC Now: North Carolina State's Carter-Finley Stadium was re-sodded after last Saturday's U2 concert. The team plays host to Duke on the new field this Saturday.

Jeff Smith, Oregonian: Oregon has lost another cornerback. Willie Glasper tore the ACL in his right knee during practice. The team earlier lost Walter Thurmond because of a knee injury.

Bill Koch, Cincinnati Enquirer: Joe Tresey, who was Cincinnati's defensive coordinator for two years until he was fired in the offseason by coach Brian Kelly, is now the defensive coordinator at South Florida. The teams meet next week, and Tresey is refusing to do interviews.

Jay Drew, Salt Lake Tribune: Former Brigham Young safety Shiloah Te'o, who was kicked off the team on Tuesday by coach Bronco Mendenhall, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and two other traffic violations nearly six weeks ago.